THE reassignment of a “most requested” police officer will be determined as soon as the “next target” has been identified, Philippine National Police Chief Ronald de la Rosa said on Monday.

This was de la Rosa’s response to requests for Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido’s transfer to other areas around the country.

“We still need to determine who will be (the) next target and that is where we will transfer him (Espenido),” de la Rosa told a news conference. “Let’s wait first and validate where he can be transferred to.”

Espenido, who was previously involved in the Baybay City Jail predawn raid resulting in the deaths of former Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and inmate Raul Yap, heads the Ozamiz City Police Station, which served the search warrants against Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. and other family members on July 30.

The incident led to a bloodbath as police claimed that Parojinog’s security fired at them as they were serving the warrants, forcing them to retaliate, which caused the deaths of Parojinog, his wife, and 13 others.

De la Rosa said he has been receiving requests for Espenido to be assigned to different parts of the country, saying that the police officer is the “most requested.”

But for now, de la Rosa said Espenido would stay as chief of the Ozamiz City Police Station until further notice of the “next target”.

De la Rosa said that Espenido would be given a special award on Wednesday for his participation in President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

De la Rosa clarified, however, that the award was not at all related to the Ozamiz raid, saying that the policeman had been recognized even before this happened.